Dummy shotgun sheel blank



Aug. 17, 1965 c. J. M CONEGHY DUMMY SHOTGUN SHELL BLANK Filed May 6, 1964 INVENTOR. CHARLES J. M CONEGHY United States Patent DUMMY SHOTGUN SIELL BLANK Charles J. McConeghy, 2203 Highland Ave., Utica, N.Y. Filed May 6, 1964, Ser. No. 365,409 Claims. (Cl. 10239) This invention relates to a blank cartridge for use in shotguns. More particularly, it relates to a shotgun shell which can be used as a dummy shell and which may also be used as a blank shell by inserting an explosive primer cap therein.

Heretofore the only dummy ammunition available for shotguns has been regular shells loaded with an inert substance instead of an impellent or powder. These dummy shells have at their breech end a metal plate which may simulate, by a scored circle at the center, a primer cap but which have no explosive capabilities. When once used for testing the firing mechanism of a gun they are of no further use for similar testing since the simulated primer cap, when once struck, is marked with the imprint of thefiring pin andtherefore is then useless for further testing purposes. g v

Dummy ammunition is useful in the increasing number of junior hunting training programs throughout the country, but heretofore shotgun blank ammunition, also useful in these programs, has not been available.

Hunters who train their dogs out of the regular hunting season now carry pistols firing blank cartridges, for want of blank shotgun shells, to accustom the dog to the sound of firearms.

Dummy shells are also useful in testing the loading mechanism in automatic or semi-automatic guns but for testing the firing mechanism live shells must be used, or, if a dummy shell is used, it can only be used once. Sometimes, when a firing pin is broken, the pin will still indent the simulated cap, but when used with live ammunition will not function with sufiicient force to explode the cap.

The primary object of the present invention, accordingly, is to provide a. blank shell for shotguns which can also be used as a dummy shell.

Another important object is to provide a dummy shotgun shell blank which may be used repeatedly by inserting therein a new explosiveprimer cap for each use.

A further object is to provide a blank shotgun shell which is safe to use indoors and out for training and test purposes.

A still further object is to provide a blank shotgun shell having a recess in which a primer cap may be easily inserted and in which the cap is firmly retained.

Another object is to provide a reusable shotgun shell blank having a recess for receiving a replaceable explosive primer cap and having internally carried means for manually ejecting an exploded cap from the recess.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of one embodiment of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is an elevational view of the breech end thereof;

FIGURE 3 is a greatly enlarged fragmentary longitudinal sectional view thereof;

FIGURE 4 is an elevational view of the muzzle end thereof;

FIGURES 5 and 6 are enlarged side and end elevational views respectively of a primer cap for use therein;

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary side elevational view partly in section of the ejector tube shown in FIG. 3;

FIGURE 8 is an end elevational view of the bushing shown in FIG. 3;

32%,?45 PatentedAug. 17, 1965 FIGURE 9 is an end elevational view of the ejector retainer of FIG. 3; and

FIGURE 10 is a side elevational View of the ejector spring shown in FIG. 3.

In the drawings, the shell 10 has a body 11 preferably formed of metal such as aluminum, brass or steel, although other materials may be used. The outside contour and shape is the same as an assembled impellent shell for the desired gauge shotgun, including an ejector rim portion 12 at the breech end.

At this rimmed end an axially extending recess 13 is provided, annularly enlarged at its outer end 14. Recess 13 is adapted to closely receive a primer cap 15 therein such as used in an assembled impellent shell. Cap 15 has the usual rim 16 adapted to be received in the annular enlargement 14 of the recess.

Primer caps which are commercially available vary as much as four thousandths of an inch in diameter so that in order that all primer caps may freely fit in recess 13 and yet may be securely retained therein during use, a retaining mechanism is provided in the body 11. A small bore 17 is provided extending radially of the recess 13 but having an aperture 18 as shown in FIG. 3 communicating with the recess which is slightly smaller than the bore 17.

A coil spring 19 is provided in the bore for normally holding a steel ball 20 of substantially the diameter of the bore against the comparatively narrower neck around the aperture 18. The ball 20 thus projects normally for a distance less than its radius into the recess 13 but is displaced into the bore 17 when a primer cap 15 is inserted into recess 13. j

Spring 19 is secured in the bore 17 by means of a plug secured in the outer end of the bore or, as shown, by simply peening over or upsetting inward the material of the shell body at the outer end of the bore;17. Spring 19 biases the ball 20 against a cap 15 in the recess and prevents the cap from becoming accidentally dislodged and falling into the trigger and hammer mechanism of a shotgun when shell 10 is used therein.

An ejector passage 21 extends axially of the shell body 11 from recess 13 to the other, or muzzle, end of the shell. An ejector tube 22 is slidingly retained in passage 21.

The muzzle end of passage 21 is enlarged at 21a providing a shoulder 23. A compression coil sping 24 in the enlarged portion 21:: extends around the tube 22 from shoulder 23 and bears against a C-washer 25 which is secured in the usual manner in a shallow annular slot 26 (FIG. 7) around the tube 22, forming a collar on the tube. An annular bushing 27, having a drive fi-t in the enlarged end 21a of passage 21, extends around the tube 22 for securing it in the passage and provides a stop against which the C-washer collar 25 is normally biased by spring 24.

The ejector tube has a free sliding fit in the central bore of bushing 27 and in passage 21. Normally, tube 22 rests with its C-washer collar 25 biased against bushing 27 and has an outer end 22a projecting beyond bushing 27 and the muzzle end of body 11. The breech end of tube 22 extends normally to a point axially spaced from a primer 15, indicated in broken lines in FIG. 3, inserted in recess 13 and is adapted, when its projecting end 22a is manually pressed, to engage the end of primer 15 and eject it from the recess 13.

In operation a primer cap 15 is manually pressed into recess 13, with its rim 16 in the end 14 of the recess. It is retained in the recess by the ball-detent 20 to prevent its being accidentally dislodged when shell 10 is loaded in a shotgun. The central passage through the ejector tube 22 provides an escape route for the products of combustion when the primer cap is exploded by firing the gun.

When the shell is ejected from the gun, the end 22a of the ejector tube is manually depressed by one finger of the hand grasping the shell and the exploded primer cap is thereby ejected from recess 13 leaving the shell ready for the manual insertion of another primer cap.

As will be apparent to those familiar with the art, the invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The embodiment disclosed therefore is to be considered in all respects as illustrative rather than restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A shotgun dummy shell, comprising: a body having the exterior surface contour and size of an assembled impellent shell, said body having at its breech end a recess adapted to receive with a close fit an explosive primer cap, and having a passage extending axially the length of the shell from said recess to the other end of the shell, said recess having a sidewall and spring pressed ball-detent means associated with the sidewall for exerting releasable pressure upon a primer cap inserted therein.

2. A shotgun dummy shell, comprising: a body having the exterior surface contour and size of an assembled impellent shell, said body having at its breech end a recess adapted to receive closely therein an explosive primer cap, and having a passage extending axially the length of the shell from said recess to the other end of the shell, said recess having a spring-biased member projecting partially therein from said body, said member being movable away from the recess into the body, whereby a primer cap inserted in the recess is retained therein by spring pressure exerted thereon by the member.

3. A shotgun dummy blank shell, comprising, in combination: a body member having the exterior surface contour and size of an impellent shell; a recess in the breech end of the body member adapted to receive therein an explosive primer cap, the recess having a cylindrical sidewall; the body member having a radial bore; a ball and spring detent in the bore, the ball being spring biased to normally project from the sidewall into the recess a distance less than the radius of the ball; an axial passage extending from the recess to the muzzle end of the body member; and a tubular ejector slidingly secured in the passage and spring-biased to normally project from the muzzle end of the passage, the ejector being adapted to be pressed against a primer in the recess to eject it therefrom.

4. A shotgun dummy blank shell, comprising, in combination: a body having the exterior surface contour and size of an impellent shell, the body having a primer cap recess in the breech end thereof, the recess having a cylindrical sidewall; the body having a small bore extending radially from the recess, a ball and spring detent secured in the bore, the ball normally projecting into the recess radially thereof a fractional part of the radius of the ball; an axially extending passage in the body from the recess to the muzzle end of the body; a tubular ejector slidable in the passage; a collar on the ejector; an annular bushing secured in the muzzle end of the passage around the ejector; the passage having an annular shoulder facing the muzzle end thereof; a compression coil spring about the ejector extending from the passage shoulder to the ejector collar and normally biasing the collar against the bushing; the ejector normally projecting from the muzzle end of the body passage and being adapted to be manually pressed against a primer cap in the recess to eject it therefrom.

5. A shotgun blank shell, comprising: a body having the exterior surface contour and size of an impellent shell, said body having a cylindrical ecess in the breech end thereof adapted to receive therein with a close fit an explosive primer cap and having a first passage extending the entire longitudinal dimension of the body from the recess to the other end of the body, a second passage in the body extending radially of the recess, a spring and ball slidingly secured in the second passage, the ball normally being spring-biased to extend partially into the recess and being capable of being forced against compression of the spring into the second passage away from the recess, and a tubular member slidingly secured in said first passage and being spring-biased to normally project from the end thereof, said tubular member being adapted to be pressed against a primer cap in the recess to eject it therefrom.

No references cited.

BENJAMIN A. BORCHELT, Primary Examiner. 

1. A SHOTGUN DUMMY SHELL, COMPRISING: A BODY HAVING THE EXTERIOR SURFACE CONTOUR AND SIZE OF AN ASSEMBLED IMPELLANT SHELL, SAID BODY HAVING AT ITS BREECH END A RECESS ADAPTED TO RECEIVE WITH A CLOSE FIT AN EXPLOSIVE PRIMER CAP, AND HAVING A PASSAGE EXTENDING AXIALLY THE LENGTH OF THE SHELL FROM SAID RECESS TO THE OTHER END OF THE SHELL, SAID RECESS HAVING A SIDEWALL AND SPRING PRESSED BALL-DETENT MEANS ASSOCIATED WITH THE SIDEWALL FOR EXERTING RELEASABLE PRESSURE UPON A PRIMER CAP INSERTED THEREIN. 